Jordan lake letter to governor

Letter to Gov. McCrory from environmental groups.

NC Sierra Club • Environmental Defense Fund • WakeUP Wake County • American Rivers
Haw River Assembly • NC League of Conservation Voters • Environment North Carolina
Waterkeepers Carolina • NC Conservation Network • Clean Water for North Carolina
July 19, 2013
Governor Pat McCrory
Office of the Governor
Raleigh, North Carolina
Re:
Senate Bill 515, Jordan Lake Water Quality Act, Implementation of TMDL
Dear Governor McCrory:
Our organizations collectively have for several years been working through public processes to protect
clean drinking water supplies and improve the health of Jordan Lake and the other drinking water sources
in the Upper Cape Fear River Basin. The Jordan Lake cleanup plan was put in place after a thorough
public process and legislative review analyzed all available options and provided for flexible management
of the resource. This followed upon the legislature’s enactment of the Clean Water Responsibility Act in
1997.
We are concerned that SB 515, Delay Jordan Lake Water Quality Act, a measure working its way through
the NC legislature, will abandon all of that work. By further delaying the restoration of this vitally
important state resource and other drinking water supplies in the basin, it will ultimately increase the cost
of cleanup to taxpayers without putting a scientifically sound alternative in its place.
The Jordan Lake rules are the means by which North Carolina, under the Clean Water Act, will achieve
federally mandated targeted reductions (Total Maximum Daily Load, or TMDL) in nutrient loading into
the Jordan Lake reservoir. The TMDL is a binding agreement between the state and EPA, approved in
2007, that calls for reducing the pollutants that are causing impairment of the lake.
A three year delay in the implementation of the Jordan Lake plan, as proposed by the House, would not
relieve North Carolina of the obligation to achieve reductions under its TMDL. Worse, while the rules are
on hold, new development will increase nutrient loading into the lake. Unmanaged polluted stormwater is
the major cause of water quality impairment and must be corrected to restore water quality.
EPA, in a recent letter*, has raised concerns about the potential impact of S. 515 on North Carolina's
ability to achieve the TMDL for Jordan Lake. The EPA notes that any abandonment of efforts to achieve
reductions from non-point source dischargers could make it necessary for the EPA to revisit the current
TMDL and assign greater reductions to permitted point source dischargers. This would likely shift the
cost of cleanup from new development to upstream cities like Burlington and Greensboro.
The House is also proposing a pilot project funded by Clean Water Management Trust Fund monies and
using water circulators and perhaps other technologies. However, the proposed project would not address
nutrient reductions which are the focus of the TMDL and thus would not address the state’s obligations
under the Clean Water Act.
The cleanup of the lake has already been delayed several times by the NC General Assembly. These
delays have hindered the restoration process, including putting off critical upgrades to wastewater
treatment plants.
While a number of localities have acted in good faith, these delays have made it increasingly difficult to
make the case that the state is acting in good faith to meet the Jordan Lake TMDL. Passage of S 515
might make it impossible to do so, putting North Carolina at a significant disadvantage with respect to
future negotiations with EPA.
North Carolinians are relying on your administration to provide leadership on these important matters.
We respectfully request that your administration oppose any version of S 515 that does not reduce
pollution going into the lake and the streams that feed it and that does not comply with the TMDL.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Molly Diggins, State Director
NC Chapter, Sierra Club
Jane Preyer, Director
NC Office, Environmental Defense Fund
David A. Emmerling, Executive Director
Waterkeepers Carolina
Karen Ridge, Executive Director
WakeUP Wake County
Grady McCallie, Policy Director
NC Conservation Network
Elaine Chiosso, Haw Riverkeeper
Haw River Assembly
Peter Raabe, NC Conservation Director
American Rivers
Carrie Clark, Executive Director
NC League of Conservation Voters
Hope Taylor, Executive Director
Clean Water for North Carolina
Elizabeth Ouzts, State Director
Environment North Carolina
*Letter dated July 10, 2013 from A. Stanley Meiburg, Acting Regional Administrator of EPA Region 4 to
Rep. Rick Glazier.
cc:
John E. Skvarla, III, Secretary, NC DENR
Mitch Gillespie, Assistant Secretary, NC DENR
Tom Reeder, Director, Division of Water Resources, NC DENR
Stan Meiburg, Acting Administrator, EPA Region 4
Kathleen Waylett, Senior Deputy Attorney General, Environmental Division, NC Attorney
Generalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Office
Benne Hutson, Chair, Environmental Management Commission